From the start, he was a tiny “fish fry” in a desolate star system, nearly eaten as a snack by a Starry Sky Behemoth. He survived by playing dead and instinctively fleeing through the void.
In an asteroid belt, he met his first “benefactor”: the surviving ship AI of a fallen Machine Race immortal. The AI's logic was thrown into disarray by the protagonist's internet memes and saucy remarks from his previous life. With no other choice, it acknowledged him as its master and became both his “starter mentor” and resident snarker.
